Bus riders need information

Bus maps should be made available when routes are altered

Taking the bus can be a great way to get around the city - or it can be a frustrating experience.

Shelia Schmitt, the new director of transit with City Utilities, is working hard to make it a great ride, but some of the work she's done to accomplish that has led to frustrations.

We support efforts to make the bus service better, and we hope recent developments will guide CU to be more proactive about working with the 1.5 million passengers it transports every year.

Several route changes went into effect Jan. 7. The News-Leader reported the changes, explaining that they were meant to increase efficiency and keep buses running on time.

Not everyone read that story, and not everyone has been happy about the changes. On Feb. 11, two such riders spoke at the Springfield City Council meeting to complain about a lack of information about the route changes.

Julie Hofstatter and Ed Ten Eyck weren't at the Council meeting, but they say they have also been frustrated - both by late buses and a lack of information about what CU has been doing to fix that.

The couple depend on the bus that runs by their home to get them to doctors, the grocery store, and just about anywhere else they need to travel. They say they have arrived at a transfer station too late to get a bus back home in the evening and can't depend on early morning buses to get them to appointments on time.

"If they would make it not such a hassle and more timely ... they would have more riders than they do now," Hofstatter said about the bus service.

Schmitt has been surprised by the negative reaction folks like Hofstatter and Ten Eyck have had, but she is ready to defend the changes that have been made and to promise better communication in the future.

The buses are now consistently arriving on time on most routes, she said.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that the large, color, fold-out map many riders depend on to tell them the times and routes of each bus is not ready yet.

But Schmitt insists that there are individual bus route cards on each bus - and they will soon be easily spotted on new card racks on the buses - and there are generic, black and white maps available at every bus stop.

"Our whole goal is to make the system work for everyone," she added.

It's a goal worth pursuing, but even a well-honed system falls short if those who use it don't know how it works.

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Bus riders need information

Taking the bus can be a great way to get around the city ? or it can be a frustrating experience.